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CPT 00400: Anesthesia for Integumentary Procedures on Extremities, Trunk, Perineum
CPT code 00400 designates anesthesia services for procedures on the integumentary system of the extremities, anterior trunk, and perineum when no more specific anesthesia code applies. This code is used across ambulatory surgery centers, hospital operating rooms, and procedure suites for a wide range of dermatologic and soft-tissue interventions. Nationally, accurate use of this anesthesia code supports correct payment, quality reporting, and aggregation of anesthesia utilization for common integumentary procedures.
Key payers addressed include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. The publication summarizes payer coverage considerations, common clinical contexts that generate use of this code, and how it relates to adjacent anesthesia codes for integumentary procedures. Readers will find a concise clinical description, expected sites of service, common diagnoses that generate billing (for example, skin infections, abscess drainage, abrasions, and open wounds), and crosswalks to related anesthesia codes for breast and other integumentary procedures.
This briefing is designed for billing managers, anesthesia clinicians, and policy analysts seeking a clear reference on when CPT code 00400 applies, which payers commonly encounter it, and how it fits into the broader set of anesthesia codes for integumentary system procedures.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 00400 describes anesthesia services for procedures on the integumentary system involving the extremities, anterior trunk, and perineum. The code applies when the anesthesia provider performs services for any surgical or procedural intervention on these anatomical regions that is not otherwise specified by a more specific anesthesia code.
Service type: Anesthesia for integumentary procedures
Typical site of service: Operating room or procedure suite for dermatologic, soft-tissue, or minor surgical procedures on the extremities, anterior trunk, or perineal region
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
National commercial benchmarks for CPT 00400 cluster around BUCA’s average commercial rate of $103.40, with individual payer medians and means varying meaningfully around that midpoint. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s distribution is relatively compact, with an interquartile range (P75–P25) of $50.0 ($106.70–$56.90), and UnitedHealth Group is the tightest with an IQR of $26.8 ($81.30–$52.50). Cigna shows a wider spread (IQR $61.0, $139.00–$73.10), and Aetna exhibits the largest dispersion at $150.3 ($262.60–$112.30), indicating more variability at the upper end of allowed amounts.
Mean rates vary: Aetna’s mean is notably elevated at $198.70, Cigna’s mean is $105.00, BUCA’s average is $103.40, Blue Cross Blue Shield’s mean is $82.70, and UnitedHealth Group’s mean is $68.40. The contrast between Aetna’s higher central tendency and the tighter distributions of UnitedHealth Group and Blue Cross Blue Shield highlights payer-specific contracting dynamics and variability in allowed amounts for this code.